When I posted about using navigator.geolocation now the only support that I had was via Gears and the ClientLocation API. I wrote the shim to try to get you the W3C API no matter what, and today we have the first implementation in a browser, via Geode.

Geode is the latest project in Mozilla Labs that gives you that API in Firefox. Aza Raskin has a nice Food Finder application that ties it together with local search and maps.

Differences between Geode and Geolocation in Firefox 3.1

Geode and the Geolocation Services in Firefox 3.1 will use the same W3C API for Geolocation, meaning that the same Javascript code will work in both. The still-in-developement Firefox 3.1 version will allow the user to choose a geolocation service provider, which can either be a peripheral device like a GPS, or a web-based service provider like we’ve used in Geode. We’ll be using the feedback we get from Geode, as well as the feedback we see on the upcoming Firefox 3.1 Beta and Fennec Alpha releases, to refine the feature before shipping it in a future Mozilla product release. We’re particularly interested in ensuring that the final implementation is as sensitive to user privacy and choice as possible.

They also got some partners to start playing with this:

To kick off Geode, two other websites have started innovating with location. Both require accounts before you can try them out.

Pownce is a service that makes it easy to send stuff (music, photos, events, and messages) to your friends. Adding the power of location — where you are when you uploaded a photo or sent a message — paints a compelling picture that helps you discover friends and activities around you. Head there to see it in action (you’ll have to sign up for an account).

Yahoo! Fire Eagle is a service that acts as a broker for your location, creating a single place where any web service, from any device can get access to your last updated location. Fire Eagle integrates with Geode so that you’ll never have to manually enter your location again. Once you have a Fire Eagle account, you can see Geode working here.

The approval mechanism isn’t transparent after the fact. In other words, I can’t go back and edit my decision for a page. When I choose “exact location” abnd reload the page, my decision is remembered, but I can;t see where: it’s not a cookie, it’s not in the add-on’s whitelist.